CMS Proposes Increasing IRF PPS and Reducing QRP Measures for FY 2026

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule under the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) and the IRF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.

The agency proposes updating the payment rates by 2.6% based on the IRF market basket update of 3.4%, minus 0.8% for a productivity adjustment. Additionally, the rule proposes that IRFs that fail to meet quality reporting requirements are subject to a 2% reduction in their Annual Increase Factor.

The rule also proposes removing two quality measures and four Social Determinant of Health (SDOH) standardized patient assessment data elements, in line with the Trump administration’s goal of purging all equity-related language from the federal government. CMS is also seeking feedback with four RFIs on future measures, including the reduction of burden in regulatory data collection and submission timelines.

The rule can be reviewed at the CMS Newsroom.